$20,000 in proceeds from The Leather Masked Ball ® V were distributed to two community non-profit organizations at a Volunteer Appreciate Party at Mojo Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale, on 12/15/10

$10,000 will fund YGMFree, a pioneering program at Fort Lauderdale’s Pride Center (GLCC) which is modeled on their widely recognized programs to prevent the spread of HIV. This new program is intended to prevent the spread of crystal meth addiction among young gay men.

According to Jorge Gardella, Pride Center’s Health Outreach Director: “The goal of YGMFree (Youth Gay Meth Free) is to reach young men who are indulging in “meth”/substance abuse and help them find alternatives and particular referrals for their addiction. The program advocates self-esteem and self-empowerment through internet marketing campaigns, social networks, cyber chat rooms, support groups, a dedicated webpage, one-on-one HIV counseling & testing and “meth”/substance abuse peer support. This level of support is necessary for GBTQ young men to make informed decisions that promote positive behavioral change, to help set them free from addiction”.

Paul Hyman, Pride Center’s Executive Director added: “A $10,000 grant award provides a critical level of initial funding needed to begin to make a real difference in people’s lives. At this level, a part-time staff position can be created to focus its efforts on the target population. With solid management and oversight, the funded role will make a measurable contribution”.

$10,000 will fund a wide ranging media digitization project at the Leather Archive & Museum in Chicago to preserve documentary video of events that would otherwise deteriorate over time. The Leather Masked Ball® has always supported LA&M’s work preserving the history and culture of the Leather Community.

Rick Storer, Executive Director of LA&M points out "Lambda Men's Brotherhood and their Leather Masked Ball are grassroots fund-raising at the core. The grant provided to the Leather Archives & Museum comes from people in the leather community raising money for causes important to them."

These contributions bring to $90,000 the charitable contributions distributed by The Leather Masked Ball ® which takes place every year the day after Thanksgiving. Previous recipients have included Tuesday’s Angels, Care Resource, Stonewall Library and Equality Florida.

The Ball is a project of Leather Men’s Brotherhood, and entirely volunteer organization recognized as a 501-c-3 charitable organization by the IRS and licensed to conduct fundraising activity in the state of Florida.

No one should rest until we have full LGBT equality. But after eight years of Republican disrespect, progress is being made. In its first 24 months, the Obama Administration has...

DNC treasurer Andrew Tobias is the author of several books, including The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need and The Best Little Boy in the World.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW

Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability -- the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation's history

Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees

Committed to ensuring that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity

Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders -- the nation's first ever -- funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAG

Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government (the nation's largest employer)

Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept our relationships from being counted, encouraging couples who consider themselves married to file that way, even if their state of residence does not yet permit legal marriage

Required all grant applicants seeking HUD funding to comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT individuals

Adopted transgender recommendations on the issuance of gender-appropriate passports that will ease barriers to safe travel and that will provide government-issued ID that avoids involuntary "outing" in situations requiring ID, like hiring, where a gender-appropriate driver's license or birth certificate is not available

Changed the culture of government everywhere from – among others – HUD and HHS to the Export-Import Bank, the State Department, and the Department of Education

Appointed Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, instead of conservatives who would have tilted the Court even further to the right and virtually doomed our rights for a generation. To wit (quoting McCain): "I've said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I've said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the eye and tell you I've said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible]."

Emphasized LGBT inclusion in everything from the President’s historic NAACP address (“The pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights.”) . . . to the first paragraph of his Family Day proclamation (“Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things”) and his Mothers Day proclamation ("Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by two parents, a single mother, two mothers, a step-mom, a grandmother, or a guardian. Mother's Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate these extraordinary caretakers") . . . to creating the chance for an adorable 10-year-old at the White House Easter Egg roll to tell ABC World News how cool it is to have two mommies . . . to including the chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce along with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of Goldman Sachs in the small audience for the President’s economic address at the New York Stock Exchange . . . to welcoming four gay couples to its first State Dinner

Spoken out against discrimination at the National Prayer Breakfast ("We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are -- whether it's here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.")

Dispatched the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to call on the Senate to repeal Don't Ask / Don't Tell

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Sir Elton John is holding close a new tiny dancer.

The piano man and husband David Furnish have become parents to a 7-pound, 15-ounce baby boy born on Christmas Day. The news was first reported Monday night by USMagazine.com and confirmed to The Associated Press by John's Los Angeles-based publicist.

Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born in California via a surrogate, whose identity is being protected by the new parents.

Zachary is 62-year-old John's first child with the 48-year-old Furnish. The couple married in 2005.

In a joint statement, the new parents told USMagazine.com that "Zachary is healthy and doing well" and they are "overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment."

A native South Floridian, Heather loves to have fun with the crowd while singing from her heart and soul. Her sultry voice and passionate performance will have you dancin' in the streets.

Heather has performed and entertained throughout South Florida, including the Bank Atlantic Center, the St. Andrews Country Club, the Winter Fest Boat Parade, and at The Tower Club of Fort Lauderdale.

She has donated her talents to the Relay for Life, the Tangeray Ride for Life fundraiser in Palm Beach, the Daily Bread Food Bank, Center One of Fort Lauderdale and for Ricardo Montalboln in California for the March of Dimes. Heather also performed in the Broward Play the Music Man with the Key Biscayne Playhouse for their traveling season.

Enjoy the great music, drink specials, full menu and great atmosphere!

Join us for wine and cheese starting at 6:00 pm Our program will begin promptly at 6:30 pm Hosted by Community Foundation of Broward 1401 East Broward Boulevard, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

Friday, January 14th - Happy Hour at The Manor - 6-9pm Great Drink Specials and The Leesa Richards Band Sunday, February 27th - GLEE-A-THON at The Manor Get you GLEE on! Details coming soon! March 12 & 13th - Pride South Florida

March 20th - AIDS Walk (We need Volunteers and Walkers!) Saturday, April 2nd - 16th Annual WIN Charity Golf Tournament Boca Greens Country Club Followed by Dinner and Dance Benefitting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation And lots and lots more.... It's going to be an exciting year with WIN!

In July 2010, Senator Reid promised Lt. Choi that he would lead the Senate to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Lt. Choi gave Senator Reid his West Point ring with the agreement that it would be returned after Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed. Today, Senator Harry Reid met with Lt. Dan Choi in his office to return the ring.

Cheyenne Jackson, the hunky Broadway star who also appears on Glee and 30 Rock, is taking his new nightclub act on the road and debuting it in Miami.

"I've put everything together and written it. Just me baby!" says Jackson, who'll perform New Year's Eve and Jan. 1 at Prelude by Barton G. "I may do a version of this in New York. This is my out-of-town tryout, if you will."

Jackson, 35, gained fame in New York stage versions of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Xanadu -- singing and skating in a tank top and very short cutoffs. Last year, he co-starred in the brief Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow.

Calling his new act All I Know, Jackson says he'll "acknowledge where I've come from" without singing "a list" of songs from his past shows.

"It runs the gamut for a musical, everything from Louis Armstrong to Coldplay," says Jackson, who in October performed with Michael Feinstein at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Last year, Jackson and Feinstein released an album version of their show, called The Power of Two, a set of love songs sung by two of the nation's best-known gay performers.

"When I started with them, it was just heading up events, call on my friends to get silent auction items, perform at these things," Jackson says. "Now, I'm taking a more active role. The MSM [men who have sex with men] initiative is going to be my area of expertise. I'm going to be more hands on."

In honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Jackson, Liza Minnelli and fashion designer Kenneth Cole (amFAR's chairman) rang the opening bell Nov. 30 at the New York Stock Exchange.

Jackson will soon co-star in a dramatic film, The Green, about a gay couple who move from New York to Connecticut. "My partner in the movie is a teacher in a private school. He gets accused of inappropriate behavior with a student."

He also has joined the cast of Glee, playing Dustin Goolsby, new coach of Vocal Adrenaline. "I'm the new bad guy, as it were."

Jackson won't disclose whether the Goolsby character is gay. "[Glee creator] Ryan Murphy would kill me if I say anything about that."

IF YOU GO

Cheyenne Jackson appears News Year's Eve and Saturday at Prelude by Barton G. at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets are $295 (including a three-course dinner and champagne) or $150 show only on Friday; $195 for New Year's Day. The evenings begin at 8:30 p.m. For more information, call 305-357-7900 or visit www.preludebybartong.com.

On YouTube:

Cubby Bernstein and Xanadu on Broadway bring you Episode Six, starring Nathan Lane, former Cubby Bernstein client and Tony Award winner, who visits Xanadu star Cheyenne Jackson backstage and gets involved in an important discussion with several members of the cast. Visit www.xanaduonbroadway.com today!

By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press

BANGKOK -- Thailand's film board has banned a movie about a transgender father struggling to raise two children, a move the director says highlights the conservative side of Thai society despite its freewheeling reputation.

The National Film Board ruled earlier this week that the film, "Insects in the Backyard," cannot be shown in Thailand because it contains scenes that are immoral and pornographic.

Authorities have not yet published a public explanation of the ban issued Wednesday, but culture and film officials said the board objected to several scenes, including at least one that showed an explicit depiction of two men having sex.

Director Tanwarin Sukkhapisit said the scenes were crucial to the story line and could not be cut. She plans to appeal the ban.

"The problem with my film wasn't that it was a gay-themed movie - because there are many gay comedies allowed in Thailand," Tanwarin said in a telephone interview Friday. "My movie was banned because it was a serious movie. It showed there can be real problems when society cannot accept sexual differences."

Thailand is known to outsiders for its tolerance of a very visible transgender community, just one aspect of the country's look-the-other-way permissiveness that sometimes runs afoul of the government's efforts to maintain traditional Buddhist values.

Transgenders are regularly seen on TV soap operas and throughout Bangkok, working at department store cosmetics counters, popular restaurants and walking the runways in numerous transgender beauty pageants. The term describes a wide range of identities, including cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals and those born with the physical characteristics of both sexes.

"Our society tries to show it accepts differences - but actually it doesn't," Tanwarin said. "Thailand is still a conservative society. This is a case of the government using its power to suppress people with different opinions."

"Insects in the Backyard" is a drama about a transvestite and single father, played by Tanwarin, whose teenage son and daughter are torn by feelings of love and shame and eventually run away from home and turn to the sex trade.

Tanwarin, 37, says the movie was loosely based on her own life. Born as a boy, Tanwarin began crossdressing as a teenager.

The film, which was screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival in October, was previously rejected by Thailand's Censorship Board. Tanwarin was appealing the earlier decision to seek a limited theater run in Bangkok for audiences aged 20 and over.

Among the scenes deemed immoral by the film board were clips showing children in their school uniforms working in the sex industry, a dream sequence in which a son kills his father and the male sex scene that the board found too graphic, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak before the ministry's official explanation is released.

"The movie was banned because it is deeply immoral," said one of the officials, a member of the Culture Ministry's Film and Video Screening Office, which is under the Department of Cultural Promotion and advised the Film Board to ban the film. He said it was "unnecessary" to show child sex workers and dreams of patricide that could be copied by young viewers.

The 21-member National Film Board is chaired by the prime minister and includes members of government agencies, academics and filmmakers. A majority voted to ban the movie.

"Members of the public might take a negative view of our ban," the official said. "But if they have an opportunity to watch the movie, they would understand why it was banned."